Am I normal?

by Amy
(UK)

Am I Normal?

I have a feeling something is wrong with me, but I don't know if I'm just being silly.
When I walk outside, about half the time I feel like the people walking past me are going to attack me or mug me or something - but they never do.

I have periods where I don't like talking to people at all and I spend most of my time at home in my room. I am paranoid a lot of the time and I don't like opening up and talking to people.
I think I have a lot of dreams of normal everyday situations, and then I believe that those dreams have happened. So I get confused as to what has happened and what I just think has happened.
I don't have a good relationship with my parents so I have very little conversation with them.
I have a lot of thoughts of death and self harm and I get very emotional a lot of the time and spend most nights crying myself to sleep, most of the time not knowing why. Sometimes when I get emotional I feel I have to do something, so I scratch my arms with pens or dig my nails into my thighs and scratch my thighs making marks, and recently I've spent about an hour trying to force myself to vomit because it feels as though there's something disgusting inside of me that I need to get out, and that is the only solution I can think of.

At school, I find a lot of the time I end up staring at one particular spot and I completely "zone-out" and people have to try and get my attention for me to realise they have been talking to me.

This isn't just a recent thing, I have been like this for probably about 2 years. I don't particularly want to go to my doctors because my parents would not take me seriously and I feel scared that the doctor would not take me seriously either.

Is there something wrong with me? Or am I just over reacting?

Answer: Am I Normal?

Amy thanks for getting in touch. First of all you are not over reacting and clearly recognise that there is a problem otherwise you would have never got in touch with me! You have definitely done the right thing in getting in touch and I applaud you for taking the first steps in overcoming these terrible symptoms that you have been hiding for so long.

Are you normal? Yes. Of course you are normal, but the symptoms that you have been experiencing are not! Don’t feel scared about seeing your doctor as they can help you with this. If you are scared to see them, why don’t you show them a copy of the excellently written request for help that you sent me?

At this stage, you are probably asking what’s wrong with me then. I would love to be able to say it is this over that, but I can’t be sure from the comments you have made. Certainly conditions such as depression and schizophrenia can present in this way, but there are so many factors involved with these diagnoses and they can only be made by taking a thorough history and examination from you.

If you have got a mental health problem then there are many treatments to make you better. If this isn’t then your doctor will be able to tell you so. Should you tell your parents about this? Yes you should! If you feel awkward about this, why don’t you show them a copy of this too!

Are you normal? Yes you are, but we all need a little bit of help sometimes and this is one occasion when you should be taken seriously and get the help you need and deserve. Good luck Amy and let me know if I can be of anymore help.




My name is Dr Peter Thatcher MBBS, MRCPI and I am a consultant physician and gastroenterologist in the UK. I have an interest in internet based medicine and administer this site in my spare time. I hope you find this site useful and informative. If you have any suggestions, please Contact Me or if you would like to comment on my site, please do so by Clicking Here. If you like the site and would like to make a donation to support what I am doing please do so by Clicking Here. Thank you for visiting and please drop by again!